5/16/2008

Pound the Bite when it’s On

If you can chew gum and walk at the same time you can talk and fish at the same time, but whatever you do just keep on fishing

Timothy Kusherets

Most of the time there are two distinct times of the day that can be anticipated for biting fish. Dawn and Dusk provide some of the most consistent times to beat the water. Biting fish tend to do so in spurts that last up to two hours at a time. When fish are biting, pound the water as much as can be done. It’s best to know what your fishing plans are before fishing during those two times so you can act rather than react. If you’re going to catch-and-release then do it fast. If you intend to keep the catches then there’s no real pressure; however, if you want to do both, don’t keep that last fish. Once the last fish has been retained you “must” stop fishing. In either case, it’s best to move quickly to keep garnering hits because once salmon go off the bite it can be as long as twelve hours before the next round of striking fish can be found.
Mike was fishing with some wobbler spoons and fishing them fast. His retrieval was against the current forcing the lure to stay near the surface and the fish were closer to the seabed. He couldn’t figure out why he was initially unable to get a single hookup.
“Just slow down the reeling and let the spoon fall a little. If you can get it right in front of their faces you’ll be hitting into fish in no time.”
That’s all it took for those strikes to start coming. He started fishing at 9:00 o’clock in the morning and was done by 10:00am. That’s all it took. He kept on fishing and was done before the bite went off…that’s how fishing should be done. Mike Lajoy was so elated at how well he had done it was all he could talk about the entire four hour trip home.
If you can chew gum and walk at the same time you can talk and fish at the same time, but whatever you do just keep on fishing until the reach of anglers is convinced that fish are done biting. It all comes down to self-control. Just remember to pound the water when the bite is on and you’ll dramatically increase the likelihood of taking that trophy fish home.